art, creativity, grief, heARTmaking activities
I’m participating in the 100Mandalas challenge led by Kathryn Costa to create 100 mandalas in 100 days (not necessarily consecutive though!) When I sit down to create something I tend to want to boil the ocean in my artwork. Mandalas provide a nice container within which to start. I can stay inside the lines if I want to…or not. I will explore different mediums and some of my mandalas will be observations. I’m keeping my options open. Shouldn’t we...
children, grief, heARTmaking activities, Holiday
Halloween marks the gateway to the holidays for me. Family traditions start to take center stage again, the air turns crisp and I can feel the ghosts of ‘what was’ starting to gather. Long-standing ways of marking the special days don’t work quite the same now. We adjust. For as long as I can remember, Ken made homemade pizza on Halloween. He was a master at making the yeast dough, hovering over it the better part of the day to punch it down when needed. I’m a decent cook but pizza dough that is consumable is not in my bag of tricks. (Our daughter helps in this photo taken fifteen years ago today.) I tried to make it myself one year but that effort resulted in a lump of goo at the bottom of the trash can and tears, mine. We ordered a pizza; it was not the same in many ways. So we adjust again. We could abandon the practice but I would prefer to preserve it for my son who is still at home. He has memories of Halloween pizza just like I do. Soon I will be off to the bakery where they sell a fine freshly made pizza dough in a plastic bag. My son doesn’t trick-or-treat anymore so maybe he will help me put it together tonight, the evolution of a tradition. Last year I offered a workshop with tips on getting through the holidays when you are grieving a loss. It included a short activity booklet with tips and tools that I include for you here. I hope you find it useful this season....
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